Easy Puff Pastry Blackberry Turnovers

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It doesn’t get easier than my puff pastry Blackberry Turnovers – with frozen puff pastry, it’s a snap! Fresh blackberry filling in layers of flaky pastry. Yum! Make ahead for a delicious quick breakfast or on the go or a sweet treat!

Celebrate Blackberry Season – Bake Some Easy Blackberry Turnovers

There’s so much I love about living in the Pacific Northwest – especially blackberry season.

Blackberries grow like nobody’s business around here. Banks of blackberry vines spring up along almost every roadside and pathway. They’ll take over your garden too, unless you cut them back.

That part is literally kind of a pain. Getting poked by blackberry stickers can sting and make you say bad words. I know this from experience!

However, when August comes and those prickly bushes are loaded with sweet, luscious blackberries, all is forgiven. I walked outside and picked a big bowl of berries in just a few minutes recently.

Remembering I had a couple of boxes of prepared puff pastry in the freezer, I decided to try my hand at making blackberry turnovers. I’m a better cook than baker, so I really wasn’t sure how they would turn out. And yes, it took me a couple of attempts to get the hang of it.

But after getting a handle on the technique, I decided to call this recipe Easy Puff Pastry Blackberry Turnovers.

Because in addition to being utterly delish…I mean, what’s not to love about sweet, thick, fresh blackberry filling encased in crisp, flaky layers of pastry? These scrumptious turnovers are super simple to make.

Let me show you how!

Easy Puff Pastry Blackberry Turnovers – Start with the Filling

The blackberry filling for the turnovers is essentially a simple stovetop jam. It thickens as it cools, so you’ll want to make it first.

You’ll put the berries into a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat along with sugar, salt, a little lemon juice, and tapioca flour. 

Tapioca flour is my preferred thickening agent for this recipe. The neutral taste allows the blackberry flavor to shine through, creating a translucent, glossy-looking jam. However, you can substitute an equal amount of cornstarch. 

After you stir everything together, mash the mixture with a wooden spoon or potato masher to help release the berry juice.

Stir the mixture to keep it from sticking until it just comes to a boil. Then take the pot off the stove and add the butter, stirring until it melts.

Put the filling into the refrigerator until it cools completely and becomes very thick. 

My recipe makes three cups of filling, which is more than enough to make eight Puff Pastry Blackberry Turnovers. Leftover filling can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to five days, or in airtight containers in the freezer for up to six months.

Extra blackberry filling is terrific as a topping for ice cream. It’s also great on muffins, scones, and toast.

Tried and True Techniques for Easy Puff Pastry Blackberry Turnovers

Frozen puff pastry is what makes these blackberry turnovers so easy.

After you roll and cut the dough, all you have to do is add the filling, fold and crimp the dough, and bake. It really is simple!

Well…once you get the hang of it.

It took me a few tries before I figured out how to prevent blackberry explosions like this one.

But you have the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. The secret to non-exploding blackberry turnovers is proper crimping and a couple of tricks.

More about that later. Right now, let’s talk pastry

Puff Pastry for Easy Blackberry Turnovers – Thaw, Roll, Cut, Fill

Thawing is the first step in working with puff pastry.

Puff pastry comes in sheets that are folded so they’ll fit in the box. If you try to unfold the sheet while it’s still frozen, it will break. So make sure you figure in time for thawing.

Since you still want the pastry to be cool, the best place to thaw it is in the refrigerator. Leave it in the fridge for about four hours or overnight. This is the best technique.

If you absolutely must, you can thaw puff pastry on the counter for 45 minutes to no more than an hour. But I don’t recommend it. If the pastry gets too warm, it won’t puff up properly during baking.

Once the puff pastry is thawed, unfold the sheet onto a floured work surface or pastry mat. Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the pastry and roll it out into a 12-inch square.

Cut the pastry square into four six-inch squares. Place about three tablespoons of the blackberry filling onto the center of each square.

Everybody loves turnovers with lots of filling, especially when it’s made with sweet, fresh blackberries! Even so, resist the urge to overfill your turnovers. 

Doing so is a recipe for disaster – and filling explosions!

Folding and Crimping

An egg wash – basically egg whisked with water – turns pastry golden brown as it bakes. It can also serve as a sort of glue to help layers of pastry hold together during baking.

So, the next step in making Easy Blackberry turnovers is important. 

Dip a finger in the egg wash and use it to “paint” a line (about half an inch wide) around all four edges of the first pastry square.

Fold the pastry over into a triangle, matching the edges as closely as possible. Try not to let any filling get onto the edges with the egg wash. Doing so can cause filling leaks during baking.

Use the tines of a fork to closely crimp the turnover along the two edges, paying special attention to the corners. You really can’t crimp too much!

After you’ve filled and crimped all the turnovers, brush the top with more egg wash and bake.

Though everyone loves a still-warm-from-the-oven treat, Easy Blackberry Turnovers really taste best after they’ve cooled. 

If you eat them warm, the filling sort of melts into the pastry. When the turnover has cooled, the filling will thicken up, giving you a lovely taste of sweet blackberry in every bite. Yum!

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